In the above link (webpage) the interviewer and The Guardian newspaper journalist Alice Fisher speaks with Noah and the Whale frontman Charlie Fink, and talks of how the band can be described as "nu-folk". This article, if successful in promoting the band, and if read by fans or even new fans, can promote the band's new album The First Days of Spring and is a promotion that the band [possibly] didn't have to pay for, unlike advertisements in magazines which are paid for my the band.
Josh did some more research, as did Emily:
Noah and the Whale are a British indie folk band. This is the cover for their second album The First Days of Spring which is also a film written and driected by lead singer Charlie Fink. He said in an interview on Radio Fivelive with Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode that he wanted to produce an album in a different way to other artists and this seemed an ideal way given his love of films (the band's name is taken from the film The Squid and the Whale). For the album the group were interviewed by many major media outlets such as Radio 1 and leading newspapers such as the Times which furthered their reputation.
Many publicity shots of the band, such as this one, play on their image as alternative to pop culture but not in a rebellious way like a rock band like Kasabian or Green Day might do but rather a slightly quircky even possibly quaint band. Most of their songs are about love and relationships and they cite their lyrical poetry to artists such as Bob Dylan however the band has yet to divulge into more socio-political agendas like Dylan did (civil rights being his biggest message).They have made relatively few television appearances concentrating more on live gigs and have played gigs in place like Bristol, London, Leeds, Reading and Manchester as well as performing at the V festival and Glastonbury.
The band started out on the London pub scene and up until last year included vocalist Laura Marling in their lineup. They slowly built up a good reputation around London which culminated in them being signed on to Cherrytree Records and Vertigo in order to record their debut album, Peaceful the World Lays Me Down.
Included on that Album was the single 5 Years Time which was marketed as the 'Summer Single of the year.' It received many positive reviews from publications such as NME, the Guardian and even the BBC News website which all suggested that it was the tune everyone was whistling that summer. The band became a success almost overnight.
